The
subject reception was held in the Common Room at the Santa Fe
Villas. The meeting was attended by 19 members and guests (see
attached sign-in sheet). Margit Smith took charge of refreshments
with an excellent array of drinks and snacks. Steven Brody gave
a greeting and description of PBK-E goals and activities. Steven
Brody also arranged for guest speaker, Dennis Maness, who described
his experiences with what I will term "sound therapy." A lively
question and answer session followed. The meeting was adjourned
about 9:00 PM

2005
Annual
Meeting

On
October 30 at the beautiful Tom Ham's Lighthouse, Epsilonians gathered
for a luncheon buffet to see fellow key holders, meeting new initiates,
fellowship winners, and find out about the alumni association's programs
and events. The meeting included a buffet, board elections, program
announcements, fellowship presentations, and musical entertainment from
Masayo Norikura. See the Annual Meeting Album!

Earthquake
Preparedness

On May
1, George Bramblett and Aya Ibarra presented some recent U.S. quake
history, earthquake experiences and tips for preparedness. Alaska
is the easy winner for earthquake frequency and magnitude but California
is a clear runner-up. Proximity to major faults, magnitude of the
quake, and the particular soil/building situation all play an important
part in your personal experience. Modern California building codes
and precautions such as not placing heavy objects near a bed help
minimize damage and potential for personal injury. Retrofits have
strengthened some bridges but not all older structures have been addressed.
Services such as electric power, water, gas, and telephone will likely
be interrupted in a quake so families should have plans to make contact
and survive without help for a few days. As with many things in life,
luck plays a major role as we go about our business since earthquakes
cannot be precisely predicted and occur on a geologic time scale.
More information is available at www.usgs.gov
(the United States Geological Survey site).

San
Dieguito River Valley Park

In
the mid '80s, several visionary residents in north San Diego County
saw the opportunity to create a 55 mile river preserve along the San
Dieguito river valley and watershed. Land acquisition by private and
government means, now well underway, has brought the project to a
point where the vision is within reach. Currently, a campaign to purchase
the Lake Sutherland East property is underway and will form a key
addition linking parts of the park, habitat, and trail. More information
on creating this San Diego legacy is available at (858) 755-6956 or
the web sites of the park and conservancy www.sdrp.org
and www.sdrvc.org